We’ve all seen movies and read books where the hero is framed, breaks out of jail or custody, and proves who really comitted the crime. Along the way, there’s usually a lot of trespass, grand theft auto and assault by our guy as he stays ahead of the police while finding the villain.
Then, after catching the real crook, it’s implied everything he did along the way will be overlooked and all charges dropped.
Seriously, if this ever happened, wouldn’t our hero find himself back in the clink for all the stuff he did during the adventure?
Of course, if he was going to be executed for a murder he didn’t commit, going to jail for a year or so might seem like a better option…
I agree. Sure, you may have proved you didn’t kill Joe Doe, though you’ll likely still go to jail for breaking and entering, grand theft auto, reckless endangerment(car chase), resisting arrest(you made the police chase you), possible assualt(beating up the real killer if he’s not threatening you), local/federal weapons law violations(running through NYC with a Handgun), etc.
Most action movies are rather remiss about showing the consequences for the heros actions.
Years ago I read the Wallace/Wallechinsky Book of Lists. There were several different ones. In one they had the list of great miscarriages of justice. My favourite was a guy who had been convicted as an accomplice in a crime (a robbery I think) but insisted he was innocent. While serving his sentence he discovered the identity of the real crook. His pleas to the authorities were ignored so he broke out of prison, tracked down the crook, took him to the police and got him to confess. He was then sent back to prison to finish his time because even though someone else had confessed he had been found guilty in court and that was that. I don’t recall whether he had time added on for escaping.